speak-asia-online-logoSomething about Manoj Kumar’s video appearances have always struck me as odd. Simply put, he just doesn’t have any natural on-screen charisma and always comes off as awkwardly acting the part, rather than speaking candidly.

These characteristics were quite obvious in Kumar’s last video appearance for Speak Asia, dated early August.

Now, Kumar’s lack of charisma and awkardness is once again on full display in what is an obviously staged video that has surfaced on the internet in the last 24 hours.

Speaking from what appears to the World Economic Forum recently held in Abu Dhabi, Manoj Kumar apparently to sit down with complete strangers and have a brief chat about some upcoming announcements and news regarding Speak Asia.

Describing the World Economic Forum as a place where ‘a lot of intellectual stuff happens, a lot of academic stuff happens‘, after pretending to not know who is filming him Manoj goes on to make a series of dubious claims, comparisons and allegations, including

  • the comparison of Speak Asia to Napster and Skype, in particular their use of ‘peer 2 peer’ technology
  • that Speak Asia, and pyramid schemes like it, will solve India’s unemployment problems
  • that ‘any other country’ would hail pyramid scheme operators, such as those running Speak Asia, as ‘national heroes’
  • that people still do not understand Speak Asia’s business model
  • the government of Bangladesh has ‘approved the (Speak Asia’s) business model’ and that business operations will start there in December
  • Speak Asia has approached the UK government regarding business operations
  • >both the UK and Bangladesh governments ‘have welcomed us (Speak Asia) with open arms
  • that Speak Asia will be one of the ‘major corporates of India’

Whilst all of Manoj Kumar’s claims are positives for Speak Asia and will no doubt be trumpeted as solid irrefutable truth by Speak Asia’s members, please bear in mind that none of Manoj Kumar’s claims come with any tangible proof.

Not one.

Infact, if anything Kumar’s claims seem to fly in the face of the reality slowly unravelling in India. Just yesterday, the Andhra Pradesh High Court ‘dismissed the bail petitions of the Speak Asia Online Pvt Ltd director, Rajiv Melhotra, and four of its employees‘ as the CID continues their criminal investigation into Speak Asia.

Additionally, in court, the company has to somehow explain ithe allegations against it by the EOW.

These allegations pertain to Speak Asia creating over 800 fraudulent panelist accounts, and having  no corporate clients for its surveys. The surveys themselves were fabricated from Wikipedia and free online article directories.

As for Bangladesh, AISPA’s own ‘anju argarwal’ claimed just days ago that

the talk that they (Speak Asia) are registered in bangladesh is a rumor and unsubstantiated.

And England? Kumar and Speak Asia are dreaming if they think they’re going to be given permission to establish Speak Asia and it’s paper thin pyramid scheme business model in the UK.

What next? Promises the company is going to expand into the US with Obama’s personal blessing?

Good one guys.

Disregarding reality for a moment and having a look at what Manoj Kumar is saying, and what he’s not saying (the only thing he directly mentions about India is faith in the system), the bigger picture here would appear to be a sudden abandoning of Speak Asia’s Indian operations should things go sour.

Whilst panelists continue to delude themselves into thinking the reason Speak Asia siphoned over a hundred million USD out of India into Singapore was to safekeep it for panelists, the real reason, if Kumar’s unsubstantiated claims are anything to go by, appears to be to expand business operations in Bangladesh and other markets.

Markets no doubt where pyramid schemes are tolerated more favorably. And again, let me just reaffirm that anyone who thinks Speak Asia is expanding into the UK with it’s current compensation plan and business model is delusional.

Not gunna happen.

Meanwhile, Manoj Kumar himself remains a fugitive at large in hiding, wanted by Indian authorities for questioning over his involvement in Speak Asia.

 

Who shot Kumar’s latest video, that is unclear. The video appears to have been uploaded by a dummy Youtube account ‘sdfghsd1’, created by Speak Asia (or one of its associates) yesterday on October 11th, 2011.

 

Footnote: Whilst I appreciate that Speak Asia’s activities mostly affect Indians in India, please respect that this is an English blog. Comments in Hindi will not be published.